Feb. 7, 2014

FILE - In this June 22, 2010 file photo provided by the Illinois Department of Natural resources, a 20-pound Asian carp is held after being caught in Lake Calumet, about six miles downstream from Lake Michigan. A scientific report released Thursday, April 4, 2013 says at least some Asian carp probably have reached the Great Lakes, but there's still time to stop them from becoming established. (AP Photo/Illinois Department of Natural Resources, File) / AP

Written by

Candice S. Miller

Detroit Free Press guest writer

Candice S. Miller

For more than two decades ó since the escape of Asian Carp into the Mississippi River watershed ó the prospect of these invaders entering the Great Lakes has been real and alarming.

Those alarms have been sounded by scientists and environmentalists and in countless studies of the destructive potential of these voracious, non-native fish.

Yet every year, the threat has continued to grow and grow closer. In 2014, the only thing separating populations of silver and bighead carp from Lake Michigan is a few miles of channel flowing through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

Itís time to do something about it.

Thatís why I introduced legislation this week, called the Defending Against Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2014, that would authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to erect a permanent, physical barrier between Lake Michigan and the Chicago canal.

In a report to Congress issued last month the Corps outlined a range of potential measures to block the migration of Asian Carp and other invasive species into the lakes. Their report, and a more recent study by the University of Notre Dame, the U.S. Forest Service and Resources for the Future, however, make clear that only the complete separation of the watersheds can provide us with the assurance we need that these invasive fish can be stopped.

My legislation would give the Army Corps of Engineers explicit authorization to construct the barrier, and set a timetable for action beginning no later than 180 days after its adoption.

Without question, ending the diversion of Great Lakes water and separating the two watersheds would be a costly and time-consuming undertaking. The Corps estimates the infrastructure for separation would require a minimum of $13 billion and would take 25 years.

Those estimates may or may not be accurate.

But what canít be denied is that the cost of inaction is incalculable.

The Great Lakes are one of our nationís pre-eminent natural resources and, for those of us who live in the Great Lakes State, part of our very identity. The prospect of having the lakes overrun by Asian carp, driving out native species and destroying commercial and recreational fisheries, is unthinkable.

The diversion of Lake Michigan water through the Chicago canal system was a mistake at its outset in the late 1800s. It would never be contemplated, much less permitted, today. And we canít let an old mistake hold the Great Lakes hostage in 2014.

The time to act is now.

Candice S. Miller, a Republican from Harrison Township, represents Michiganís 10th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.